It is time to begin pruning fruit trees, if you haven’t already. The weather in northern Ohio was so mild in
January and February, which provided extra time to prune fruit trees. Now is the time to spray fruit trees with
a dormant oil, or lime sulphur spray. The dormant oil is used before the trees break dormancy, thus smothering
overwintering insects. Lime sulphur will eliminate overwintering insects and diseases, that might be present
as soon as spring arrives. Temperatures need to be at least 40 degrees or above for 24 hours, and prior to
rainfall.
After the application of dormant spray is applied, you can begin using a combined insecticide-fungicide
every 2 weeks. One caution is to avoid spraying when the fruit trees are blossoming so that the bees can pollinate
and the insecticide will not kill them. 2 good combined sprays with fungicide-insecticide are Bonide’s totally
organic Citrus Fruit and Nut Orchard Spray. The other spray is Bonide’s Fruit Tree Spray.
Begin fertilizing fruit trees end of March or April 1st. With normal rainfall and a granular application, you would feed
trees every 6-8 weeks, depending on rainfall. So get the jump on spring and get started now.
